~Vitamin Sea~

Brittany's Camera Goes to the Beach

 

Brittany has a new camera and I decided to take it with me on a morning walk down the beach.

It's an Olympus FE 280.  I liked it because it was on sale.  She liked the host of features that came with it, including image stabilization, 21 shooting modes and movie feature with sound.

I'm so used to sticking my eye in the viewfinder on my Canon Rebel that I had trouble getting used to her little point n shoot gizmo. You have no idea how often I started to put the camera up to my face to take a pic. Got a lot of funny looks that way.
I came away impressed...with the size.  And that image stabilization feature.  Boy, I really could use that image stabilization feature.  Especially when using my zoom lens.

On the other hand, nothing beats a point-n-shoot when you want to snap a quick photo and move along.  I find it a time consuming pain in the arse to switch lens when I'm in a hurry.
So I guess there are benefits to having both!

I haven't used a point-n-shoot in several years.  All this time, I've been suffering through  struggling to learn  valiantly learning how to set the aperture, shutter speed, ISO, etc. in order to compose a great shot.   It doesn't always work.  I am self taught, an auto idiotic autodidact amateur. We've been through a lot together, this Canon and I.  There are days when I can't stand the thing.  Sometimes I talk to it, coax it,  threaten to drop it off in the Gulf if it doesn't behave.  Once in a while, that works. 
Other times, it will refuse to snap the photo for reasons too numerous to get into here. 
Temperamental little bastard.

I didn't have that problem with the Olympus.  The only problem I did have is that I couldn't see the screen to take the picture.  The sun was so bright, I often had no idea what I was focusing on.  So I'd hold it up, pull back the zoom and hope for the best!  Viola!
Here's where that will screw you up:

In this lovely photo of a bouy, I thought I was focusing on a couple in a kayak.  I centered myself behind the dunes, held the camera up, panned till I thought they were in focus and snapped the photo. 
Do you see the couple?
Well no, they're not in the photo. The sun was so bright, all I could see was a blur on the screen. That little bouy? It stood out, so I thought that was the couple.  OHHHHHHHhhhhh.

So it has it's drawbacks, this little point-n-shoot.

But what ab-so-frookin-lootley amazes me are the 21 available shooting modes.  Ladies and Gentlemen, they have a CUISINE option on this camera.  For photographing FOOD!   Another option for taking photos behind glass.  Another option for photographing documents... you know, for when you're in the tax preparers office, he leaves the room, you lean over and ...
er, never mind. 

Well anyway, here's the photos. I did a little editing afterward.  (I can't help it).
Florida readers, perhaps used to our beaches, will probably not be impressed.  They're just standard photos that look like Every Beach.   And I'm tempted to agree.
As long as we never take a beach like this for granted. 
Clean, white and gorgeous.

50 points if you can tell me what this is for.

If you're from Florida, you only get 10 points, because you should KNOW!  right?

Dive Right In!

Beauty in the Heat

I don't normally look for photos when I'm outside during the hottest part of the day, as the sun is too bright, and that often makes for "washed out" colors in the photo.  In Florida's heat, I'm usually craving shade if I'm outside when the temps are hitting the upper 90's.

Still, I'm lucky enough to live near one of the most beautiful botanical gardens on the east coast. and it's a great place to unwind after a crazy day.  I couldn't resist shooting these photos around 3 p.m. even with the sun beating down mercilessly. 

Here's where you come in.  Does anyone know what type of vine this is? It would be gorgeous growing along our back fence!

I had planned to ask the staff but got distracted by dozens of other winged beauties and other growing things.  There is usually a marker that identifies the type of plant, but I didn't see one nearby. 
I also looked on their page that lists the plants in bloom, but didn't see it.

It was growing over a bridge that covers a pond on the premises.

By the way, I thought you'd like to know that Monets water lillies are doing very well on the other side of the pond:

I wonder what's lurking under there...

Shell Island, John's Pass.

Ok. Lotsa stuff happening on the home front lately, but all is well folks. All is well.

I had a birthday and I'm now officially over 45 and yet, still under 50.  In fact, I'm over 46, too.  I can't bring myself to type out those odd numbered ages.  Something about odd numbers makes you sound older than you are.

Anyway, young or old, today is boat day here on VitaminSea.  On the first of the month, we took my brother, his wife and kids out to Shell Island, south of St. Pete Beach.  It's a great place for exploring marine life.

We frequently see dolphin in these waters when cruising. And every so often, people ask us why we don't jump in the water and swim with them.  That is because we value our lives tremendously.  Check out the size of those guys, will ya?

And also because, a mere two weeks before our boat trip, a 9 and-a-half-foot bull shark was caught just about 10 minutes from this very island, 150 yards off the southern tip of Egmont Key.
So, no, I don't swim in these waters, thanks. 
Also, you can actually be attacked by feeding dolphin, did you know that?  Better to let the wild things be.

Now that you are sore afraid and properly cautioned, let's go out on the boat!

Rounding the corner, we're heading into John's Pass on Treasure Island along the Intracoastal Waterway. Here's a section of it.
There are hotels, shops and great restaurants here. You can go out on a dolphin cruise, rent jet ski's, parasail, or head offshore on the giant casino ships.  I personally like the little basket of corn fritters at the Friendly Fisherman in the morning, with coffee.  yummm.

Here's part of the the new bridge to Treasure Island that is under destruction. Note the state bird of Florida in the background:

What? You can't see the cranes? ;)

The older I get, the worse the puns...

Now we've headed out to the Gulf of Mexico, and pulled up onto a little island. I can tell you how to get there for a mere $19.95 a person.  If you pay for the gas, I'll take you there for free.

This is a great place for snorkeling if you like to pull up little critters and investigate.
Samantha was particularly good about finding living things buried deep in the sand. She is our family marine biologist.  ;)

You can see some of  our photos on FlickR .

But here, I've got a photo of old Fang, who lurks in these here waters.

Check out those beady eyes! He's particularly found of your big toe.

Here, my nephew shows off what I think are lightning whelks (am I right?), beautiful shells, but don't stick your finger inside there or they'll slap ya.  Shell Island is a designated wildlife sanctuary. Everything here is protected!

I hope you had a good tour. Tomorrow, we'll head to the beach for a little evening surf!

Tomato Question!

Back to the garden we go. I have a question for those of you with a PhD. in Tomatology.

What's eating my tomato plant?   The leaves have been completely stripped off of some of the stalks.  See the upper left corner of the plant: 

It doesn't appear anywhere on the lower part of the plant.  I suspected worms, but I can't find any on the plant. I searched high and low, under the leaves, inside the stalks, everywhere.  Any ideas?  Here's another photo.  The stalk in the foreground has been stripped bare.

The damage is only to the upper part of the plant. (so far).

  I have a bottle of Safer's Tomato and vegetable spray, but I only sprayed a few sections of the plant.  I'm kind of leary about using it without knowing exactly what I'm going after.

I also sprayed it in a circle around the plants, right into the mulch.  Think that will help kill the nasty invaders?

Here's one of the banana peppers:

A few good tomaters:

What type of lily is this? It was growing wild around our house when we moved in. I still haven't found out what type it is, but it is VERY hardy!  They're blooming all around town right now. They'll grow right along the sidewalks on busy roads, which I find amazing.

Below: A purple mexican petunia, (not a water-wise plant) growing wild in a bed of Blue Daze.

It has taken over my side yard, and it's so pretty that I've let it go wild. However, it needs to be watered frequently, something I'm not inclined to do.  Yet, it's hanging in there, just waiting for a good rainstorm.  If you plant them, they'll appear at random all around your yard.  Their roots were born nomads!

Here's a red hibiscus. It's relatively new to the market (by a few years) and is one of the water wise varieties.  The name is escaping me at the moment and that is driving me crazy!  Look for it in the Xeriscape section at your nursery. (I bought mine at good old Home Depot years ago).  It's just great in the sun and heat. 

The foilage is beautiful, however.  Remind me to go back out there and get a photo of the whole plant for y'all.  Then we'll get some sweet ice tea and toast to the finer things in life.

I had this one in the sun along the back fence, but then a neighbor's tree grew over it, blocking the sun. So I had a lot of foilage and few flowers.  This one has been transplanted and is doing great in the hot, hot, melanoma sun.

This concludes our Friday gardening tour and should send you into the weekend just itching to get out there and weed.

Or not.   

(I say not). 

  ~Toodles!~

Dog Days at the Beach IV

Here's Buddy at one of the few dog beaches available in our county. Having a good ol' time!

He really liked hanging out with this girl and her sister. Every time they threw something in the water, he'd come running to investigate:

Ok, I admit it, I really like the first shot because his eyes looked so clear and focused.  A lot of the time, however, they look like this:

Look at that face. He's a little worried there, his eyes are now almost completely clouded over from diabetes induced cataracts. 

Every so often, I'd get on my knees close to the water line to snap a photo, and he'd come running up and barrel right into me.  At this beach, he constantly ran into people and their chairs and beach stuff.  Everyone was a good sport about it, thank God.  It's a dog beach, after all.  Most dog owners are the best kind of folk you'll ever meet!  They all seemed to join us in warning him when he got too close. 

Meet the natives!

Body language: check out the tail held high, the stiff back, ears forward, ready to plunge at moments notice.  The other dog looks gentle and submissive.   Buddy tends to do this to other dogs that are his size or larger.

He doesn't know what to make of little dogs because they can run around faster than he can. He can't puff out his chest at them. My mom's dog, a shi-tzu mix, likes to bite him on the legs and knock him to the ground.  The only way he can control my mom's dog is to try to sit on him.

When he was a mere toddler doggy, he sized up a pit bull in the same way as shown here.  I thought my heart was gonna leap right out of my throat. The pit was so well behaved, he just stood there, looking right at his owner, while Bozo puffed his chest out and ran in circles with me in tow.

The owner was very patient until I tackled young brawn- for -brains and hauled him back into the house.  It has been nine years since that day and we still see the old pit bull and his owner on our walks.  Buddy still tries to do the same thing every time we see them.  But now the guy laughs and we always say howdy.

That is why I believe no matter how you raise them, you better keep an eye on their genes.

Now I digress!  Back to the water! Tennis Balls! Fun!

Seriously, don't drink the water, Bucko.

This is why giant beach towels are a staple around here. Baths, too.

Floridians

From my email goodies.  This has been around before, but there are some new ones. ;)

You know you're a Floridian if...

Socks are only for bowling.

 

You never use an umbrella because you know the rain will be over in five minutes.

(note from Laura,  I rarely use the umbrella because we're the lighting capital of the US!)

 

A good parking place has nothing to do with distance from the store, but everything to do with shade.

 

Your winter coat is made of denim.

 

You can tell the difference between fire ant bites and mosquito bites.

Anything under 70 degrees is chilly.

You've driven through Yeehaw Junction.

You know that no other grocery store can compare to Publix.

Every other house in your neighborhood had blue roofs in 2004-2006.

You know that anything under a Category 3 just isn't worth waking up for.

You are on a first name basis with the Hurricane list. They aren't Hurricane  Charley or Hurricane Frances. You know them as Andrew, Charley , Frances , Ivan and Jeanne, Wilma too.

You dread love bug season.

You know what a snowbird is and when they'll leave.

You think a six-foot alligator is actually pretty average.

'Down South' means Key West .

Flip-flops are everyday wear. Shoes are for business meetings and church, but you HAVE worn flip flops to church before.

You have a drawer full of bathing suits, and one sweatshirt.

You get annoyed at the tourists who feed seagulls. 

(arrrgh!)

A mountain is any hill 100 feet above sea level.

You know the four seasons really are: hurricane season, love bug season, tourist season and summer.   

You've hosted a hurricane party.

You can pronounce Okeechobee, Kissimmee , Withlacoochee and Micanopy.

You understand why it's better to have a friend with a boat, than have a boat yourself.

You were 25 when you first met someone who couldn't swim.

You've worn shorts and used the A/C on Christmas and New Years.

You recognize Miami-Dade as ' Northern Cuba

Quickie Post: Garden Photos

Not much time this morning, so I thought I'd post a few photos from the garden.

Stay tuned!

Run Forest, Runnnnnnnn!

 

  Rick found this little guy in our garbage  "non-sustainable items container" this past weekend.
I thought he/she looked rather cute.
However, I never take photos of the little buggers because of their TEETH.
Normally I just go in the house and tell Rick to get the possum looking thing out of the garbage non-sustainable item container.

After harassing Britt and her friends to come look at it, Richard took it to a nearby wildlife park and let it run free to terrorize other garbage can non-sustainable item container owners whose homes border the park.  Wasn't that nice.
Don't worry, it's a big park.
biggggggggggg

In other wild Florida news, this little guy has been in our back yard several times this week.

Rick seems to think he won't last very long around here. 
Well, after watching him run through the yard on  the first day, I thought he was a fast enough little bunny, but had second thoughts the next day after he hung around too long to let me take his photo.  Not a good thing in a yard with 3 cats. 
I'm gonna name him Forest. 
Guess why....

That is all for today on our Wild America!

Celebrating the Rain

Between our drought situation and the wildfire outbreak, this weeks rain was badly needed!
Today's post has been brought to you by Sudafed! Breaking the hold on sinus pain in heads across America.
I will return after my skull cracks and the pain goes away. Enjoy your day!

Yes Mom, It's Just You

All right, all right, this is a very random post relating to art and butterflies.  And whatnot.  Because here at VitaminSea, we are all about whatnot.
Life is too short not to include it in our focused daily endeavors.

I have a question for you all, and it pertains in part, to butterflies.  This is bugging me, people. I have raised my kids and I have failed them. Either that, or they were switched at birth.

I give you this scenario:

It is Sunday, the 18th of May. We are all gathered together as a family unit at the Gulf Coast Museum of Art,  where one of Brittany's photos is on exhibit.   County-wide public and private school art teachers were invited to submit their student's best works of art.  The pieces were then judged by an independent artist/art educator who decided which works would be included in the exhibition.
(OH! I am so proud. How can I not be??!  I'll show you a copy of the photo as soon as I can.) The works of art by these students is stunning, and in some cases, thought provoking as well.

But herein lies the problem. 
The museum sits on the grounds of one of the most beautiful botanical gardens on the west coast of Florida.
You should go there if you ever have a chance to see our area. Admission is free.

In any event, an odd thing happened after the ceremony.  Neither my hub nor my two garden-illiterate daughters wanted to tour the grounds.
I found that highly amazing. It is one of my favorite places 'round these parts.
What?!
Richard actually wanted to go home.
Samantha said she and her boyfriend were going back to his house to help him move into a smaller bedroom at  his house because his mom wants his room for an exercise room.
HA! I cackled, she's phasing him out.
Moms, you know this is true, right? Oh, for certain, although he disagreed and Samantha laughed.

Ok, so they were excused, but as they left,  they walked right past a BEAUTIFUL rose garden and several outdoor art sculptures without even LOOKING at them.
I sighed.
Samantha, I had always thought, was my creative/artsy one. 

Brittany, perhaps noticing the gigantic albatross hanging in the air that belonged to my Canon Rebel, which was glaring at her from it's viewfinder (it has a mind of it's own and it expected to be used), half- heartedly said she'd like to see if there was a gator on the premises.

I said I knew where there was one.
I'd seen it earlier in the week, and also the week before, at the retention pond behind the butterfly garden.
So we walked across the grounds, around the palms and fountains and through the stone walkways and finally, entered the wooden path that was the butterfly garden.  Butterflies, were everywhere.

Rick and Brittany walked right through it in single file, looking straight ahead.
Britt was text messaging.  Rick was talking to someone, I'm not sure who.
Butterflies, to the left and right of them, went unnoticed.
Giant blooming ginger, unappreciated.

I began to wonder, is it just me?   Am I the only one to notice these things, especially in my own family?
I guess I figured they'd just pick up on this interest of mine as time went on, but I guess not.
Sometimes in the parenting process, your kids don't always absorb what you've exposed them to by rote observation.
Or maybe they were just tired and hungry. We did go out to eat afterward for that reason.

Would you notice something like that in a garden, or are you impressed by something like that? It wasn't so long ago that almost anywhere you went in Florida, they didn't have butterfly gardens. It just wasn't that common. To walk into a wild one and see so many of them at once, in one place, is fascinating.

The young gator sensed them coming and decided to hide.  He's a little 4 footer.
Next time, he'll jump out and hiss at 'em.  Maybe that'll wake 'em up. ;)